"Is this thing fun to watch?" Jiang Hai asked Du Famen after they settled into their seats in the front row. To be honest, it was his first time attending something like this, and he really didn't know what to expect.
"If you like ground fighting, it's quite interesting," Du Famen said with a smile.
Hearing that, Jiang Hai turned his attention to the hall in front of him.
The venue was quite large. In the center stood an octagonal iron cage, surrounded by chairs arranged not too far from it. There were plenty of seats, but to be honest, the turnout wasn't great.
According to Du Famen, this was pretty typical — much like boxing, unless it was a championship or a high-profile match, ticket sales were usually modest. They had simply caught an event while passing by, so they decided to take a look.
Still, their front-row tickets had cost $1,600 each.
Jiang Hai couldn't help but smack his lips at the thought. These people sure knew how to charge — $1,600 for a basic chair!
In fact, Jiang Hai had looked into the UFC a bit before coming.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship — or UFC — is a relatively new type of fighting competition. In Chinese, it translates to "Science Fighting Championship." It's currently the world's top and largest professional MMA event.
The UFC was established in 1993 and is headquartered in Las Vegas. Its philosophy draws heavily from Bruce Lee's fighting concepts, but its true foundation lies with the Gracie family, famous for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Over time, the event has evolved to incorporate techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, traditional Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, kickboxing, and other fighting styles.
It's known for having the fewest rules among all combat sports.
Aside from prohibiting headbutting, eye gouging, hair pulling, inserting fingers or toes into an opponent's mouth, biting, attacking vital points, nose or ear gouging, finger twisting, downward elbow strikes (such as jumping and striking downward with the elbow tip), strikes to the spine and back of the head, kicking the kidneys with the heel, grabbing the throat or ligaments, and kicking the head of a grounded opponent, just about everything else was fair game.
Of course, taunting, spitting, and insulting opponents were also prohibited — this was, after all, a sports event, not a street brawl.
Because the rules were so minimal, the UFC stood out among other fighting competitions. However, since it's not an Olympic event, China hasn't prioritized developing this sport, which is why Chinese martial arts — once hailed as one of the world's four major fighting styles — have little presence on this stage.
Few Chinese athletes were willing to participate, and even fewer Chinese audiences cared.
Unlike WWE, which — despite being scripted — has storylines to captivate audiences like a TV show, the UFC relies solely on raw combat. WWE had successfully built a fanbase in China, especially because it led to stars like Dwayne Johnson crossing over into movies.
But the UFC didn't have that advantage. Though extremely popular in Europe and America, it remained largely unnoticed in China.
Still, as interest in the real-world lethality of martial arts grew, some Chinese fighters made their way into the UFC. The most famous was Zhang Tiequan, known as the "Wolf of the Grasslands." His fighting skills were impressive, but due to physical limitations, his record, while solid, wasn't outstanding.
Nevertheless, his participation encouraged a few more Chinese athletes to join the ranks.
According to Du Famen, fighters here didn't earn any less than regular boxers at the mid-to-lower levels. Top-tier boxing still dwarfed them in income, but fighters like Zhang Tiequan could earn appearance fees around €100,000 per match — not including win bonuses.
Winning four matches a year could easily push annual earnings over €600,000. Focus fights or title defenses paid even more and often included TV revenue shares.
Still, even the top UFC fighters couldn't compare to boxing legends like Mayweather, who made hundreds of millions from a single bout — not to mention sponsorship deals.
While these UFC fighters had some fame overseas, their name recognition back home was minimal — even third-rate celebrities were better known.
Tonight's UFC event was just a regular Fight Night — not a championship.
As Jiang Hai and Du Famen chatted, the first match quietly began.
The opener was a light heavyweight bout between a white fighter named Misa (or something like that) and a black fighter named Daniel Qiaolin. It was Jiang Hai's first time watching such a match live.
It quickly became clear: Daniel was better at boxing and striking, while Misa specialized in ground fighting.
After the first round started, the two quickly clashed. For context, UFC matches typically consist of three rounds, each five minutes long. If a fighter is taken to the ground, they can continue attacking unless the referee intervenes.
This was part of the spectacle's charm.
Misa, while no slouch standing up, couldn't match Daniel's striking. However, once they hit the ground, the tide turned.
Daniel tried to scramble free but got caught again. Soon, Misa was sprawled on top of him, raining punches down like a storm.
At first, Daniel defended well, but close-range striking is a brutal art — after a few blows, he was clearly dazed.
The referee immediately stepped in and stopped the fight — a TKO. Technically a knockout, but it's the referee deciding the fighter can't continue, rather than a clean KO.
With the referee's decision, Misa was declared the winner.
Du Famen was clearly excited watching the match, but Jiang Hai frowned. He wasn't impressed. Maybe it was the violent instincts buried deep within him — he didn't have much patience for ground fighting.
If he really wanted to, no ordinary person would even get close to grappling him. He could end a fight with a single punch — that was his strength.
After two matches, Jiang Hai started feeling bored and asked Du Famen, "Where's the thing I asked for?"
Du Famen turned toward him. "In such a hurry?"
"Yeah," Jiang Hai said with a shrug. "There's nothing to see here. If those two fought me together, I'd finish it in a minute."
Hearing that, Du Famen could only shake his head in exasperation.
That was the nature of sports. Why do people love watching them? Partly for the passion — the thrill of a battle in peacetime — but mostly because athletes embody what ordinary people wish they could be.
For those who far outclass the athletes they're watching, though, the appeal fades quickly. They might still glance at a game now and then, but mostly, they won't bother.
Just like Jiang Hai.
He used to love basketball, but once he realized he was better than everyone else, he lost all interest — just like now, watching UFC.
"Man, your life must be so boring," Du Famen said, half-joking, and handed him a small safe retrieved from a bodyguard nearby.
Jiang Hai opened it and checked the contents. It was exactly what he had asked for — the oil futures transfer contract.
The style, the paper, even the wording matched the two contracts he already had. The only difference was the quantity — now it was consolidated into a 1-billion-dollar contract.
Satisfied, Jiang Hai closed the box with a smile.
He then pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to Du Famen.
Du Famen took a look — it was the jewelry transfer contract for the batch Jiang Hai had stored in Miami.
With that, the two men were even.
"Du Famen," Jiang Hai said with a faint smile, "I'm a little surprised. You're a smart guy. Why let me take advantage like this?"
He was genuinely puzzled. These two things weren't exactly of equal value.
Du Famen chuckled. "Two reasons. First, I really need that batch of jewelry. You know, Dubai doesn't have much oil anymore. We have to diversify our economy. Tourism has always been a major focus, but while many rich people come here to visit, few actually stay."
"Aside from the Burj Al Arab, Dubai doesn't really have a signature attraction. I was worried about how to develop further."
He smiled meaningfully.
"But when I heard about that batch of antique jewelry you found, it sparked an idea. If we 'discover' a sunken ship full of ancient treasures in our bay... don't you think more people would come?"
(To be continued.)